


Good Decisions 101, by Tony Stark

by qualapec



Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Arguing, Gen, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-13
Updated: 2012-11-26
Packaged: 2017-11-05 06:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qualapec/pseuds/qualapec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This WAS the worst thing she'd walked in on him doing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Out of all the stupid---“

“Pepper, please, please just stop and listen.”

“Oh no, I think I understand what’s going on perfectly well.” She was storming away, headed for the door, shoulders pressed tightly together over the manila folder in her arms.

“JARVIS! Doors!”

Pepper stopped with a heavy breath before turning to face him. The look in her eyes briefly made Tony consider suiting up. “You are very enthusiastic about this ‘trial separation’ aren’t you?”

“You broke up with me,” he replied, “and the thing in there, just sort of - happened.”

She pressed her hand into her forehead. “Sleeping with an internationally wanted war criminal just sort of happened? Is that seriously what you’re going with for this one?” He opened his mouth to speak, but a frantic wave of her hand cut him off. “No, Tony. Earthquakes happen, tsunamis just happen, apparently the Swedish model just sort of happened, too. This? This is just stupid.”

“Pepper-“

“No,” she said shortly. “I really don’t want to hear the excuses.” She strode towards him, face caught somewhere between shock and hurt. “That is Loki. This city is still cleaning up the rubble from when he tried to invade the planet.”

“A valid point-“

“Tony-“

“No, I was talking.”

“Frankly, I’m not particularly interested in what you have to say.”

“Too bad, because, I see the argument you’re making and I appreciate it.”

“That’s a first.”

“Could you cap the sarcasm just a little? He’s helping me with something.”

“So I saw.”

Tony stopped, looked both ways and awkwardly chewed on his lip, “…Um, he’s helping me with something else?”

She practically threw the envelope into his hands. “Here. These are your problem. I’m leaving.”

“Don’t you think you’re being just a little emotional?”

That stopped her. “Yes, I am emotional about this. I just walked in to find my boss – my ex – in bed with an alien that tried to kill him about two years ago. I’m emotional about this because this is the man who killed Coulson. I’m emotional about this because do you have any idea how hurt your friends will be? What SHIELD will do to you if they find out? If there is anything in the history of the human race that I should get the OK to be emotional about, it should be this. Being emotional means I’m the only one with any sense in this situation.”

She broke off, her eyes going wide with a harsh realization. “Oh God, do you know what this is going to do to you if this gets out? This isn’t just a PR nightmare, this is DEFCON 1. God, I could have worked with you sleeping with a regular guy – I could have worked with gay rights groups and the public would have loved it. I can’t work with this. He’s a war criminal. I just…oh god, I have headpain. I have headpain and I’m dizzy and this is probably what it feels like to go crazy.”

Tony considered telling her he was a little concerned about her priorities, but he realized that, if anything ever pushed her to hit him, it would be that. “Pepper, calm down. Take a Xanex.”

“I don’t need a Xanex. I need this to _not be happening_.”

Tony sighed. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like having all of his doubts being voiced and tossed in his face. It was something she always seemed to manage.

In all honesty, it was why he needed her. He had the vision; she brought it back to Earth. He made the plan; she saw the flaws in it. She was Pepper and he hated when he did something to upset her this much.

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry but you’re not going to stop, is what you mean.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what this is, I really don’t. As soon as I do, you’ll be the first one to know. For now…me. And Loki. Me and Loki. Our interests line up.” He finished, and the hurt growing in her eyes was worse than a knife in his gut.

“All this tells me, Tony,” she began, voice cracking through the ironic smile, “is that it doesn’t matter whether or not we’re in a relationship. You still find a way to hurt me – and yourself.”

Stab. Twist.

She left. This time, Tony didn’t stop her.

He made a B-line for the bar.

“You didn’t help,” he said, voice hard.

Loki slithered out. He’d managed to change into a dark, casual tunic that fell to his ankles, wrapped tightly at his throat in a Mandarin collar. “You seemed to have it under control.” He eyed the space where she’d gone. “Will she tell anyone?”

Tony took a second to think about it. “No. She won’t.”

“I do not wish to end up with my head on a block again because of this tryst.”

“You won’t. It’ll be fine.” He lifted up the drink in his hand. “See? I have a margarita. Things can’t be too bad if I have a margarita.”

His first sign that things still weren’t quite right was that Loki wasn’t looking at him. At all. His eyes kept swiveling between where Pepper had been standing and the view out to the cityscape. Tony hated watching him belt up his emotions again after each time he opened up, he closed off the real and get locked in whatever bitter pool he liked to sit in.

“Pepper is important to me,” Tony started, going out on a limb, and Loki glared at him. “Nothing will change that...but I don’t do the most important people thing. There are important people and then there are other important people. But if you’re important, you’re important. Important. You. I guess is what I’m trying to say.” Awkwardly, he stopped. He did not like emotions and was not good with them. The confrontation with Pepper wasn’t making that any better. “So are Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, and yes, Thor.”

“If this comes to light, you will not be able to keep everyone from being hurt.” Loki was looking out at the city again. There were still buildings that hadn’t been repaired from the Chitauri assault, still fresh flowers left every week on the graves of the people who’d died, and Tony wondered briefly, brilliantly, what the fuck he was doing.

“Well, I want to avoid the lynch mobs, torches, and pitchforks as much as you do. And the interventions. Something tells me Steve’s a weeper.” Tony was trying to laugh it off because that’s what he did in the face of potential catastrophe.

“You will have to choose who is hurt the most.”

Tony gulped the last of his drink, glaring at the back of the other man’s head. “Well, at least I know who you’ll choose.” A) Loki. B) Loki. C) Loki. D) All of the above. “I guess that just means this has to stay our secret?”

“That sounds utterly sustainable,” Loki shot back with a sharp grin and a wink, his voice caustic. “You’re doing a fantastic job, I might add.” He turned; grabbing the simple, gold-colored staff he was using these days and twirling it twice. “I have business I must attend to.”

The ice from the drink turned to knives in his stomach. “If you go after her-“ _I will kill you. If you put me in that position, I swear I will kill you._

“My business is unrelated. I trust your opinion on Ms. Potts.” He paused at the door. “If this comes to light, I will do my best to keep any unintentional harm from befalling either of you, assuming it does not inconvenience me.” Then he stepped out, a shimmer of power bringing up the veil that allowed him to move unseen.

Tony stopped, chewed on his lip, and went to make another drink. Pepper had scolded him and he’d just admitted a mutual parcel of attachment with his fling. The day was not off to a great start.

“JARVIS, remind me to write a book someday called Good Decisions 101, by Tony Stark.”

“Are you being sarcastic, sir?”

“Yes, tin man, I’m being sarcastic.”


	2. Chapter 2

“I’ve gotta say,” Tony said, back pressed against a wall at the base of a marble staircase, “I’ve gotta say, this is my kind of investigating.”

Loki pressed his hands into Tony’s hipbone, pushing him against the stone. Tony was holding on to the scarf, for all it was worth, and trying to remember what they’d been doing at the event downstairs in the first place. He didn’t try very hard. Nothing useful was gathered, so he was perfectly content to focus on mouth, hands, and other things.

“May I have the next dance?”

They froze. Tony’s eyes shot open at the sound of that voice, heart racing, and he dropped the scarf as if it was electrified, holding his hands up. Loki stopped, his breath heavy and slightly flustered against Tony’s neck as he pulled away. “You are very quiet, Agent Romanov.”

Natasha was behind them, carefully placed at a safe – but ultimately personal distance. She had a small, knowing smile, and a simple black dress with a sparkly black handbag cradled gently between her graceful fingers. “Loki, if you don’t mind I’d like to have a word with my colleague.” She inclined her head in implication. “Alone.”

“Agent Romanov, you underestimate me.” Loki grinned back, lapsing immediately into a mocking, defensive stance. “I need Stark in one piece and I have no time to indulge whatever vengeance you see fit to take.”

“Just a chat,” Natasha raised a hand in peace. “I’m not going to throw him out a window.”

“Go. I’ll be fine.” Tony motioned back to the party.

Loki hesitated, flitting between staying and going before he tossed his cane up, snapped it out of the air, and headed back towards the music and a group of old rich people that didn’t have vital information. “I won’t go far.”

When he was gone, Tony turned to Natasha, everything about his body felt like lead. Pepper had been bad enough, but he knew SHIELD or his teammates would figure it out eventually. It was the kind of thing that, while inevitable, still brought a bad taste with a side of catastrophe. He felt like an idiot looking at her, and he was irrationally mad that she’d found out, even though a part of him always knew she _would_ find out. “So…how long have you known?”

“About a year,” Natasha replied without hesitation.

“That’s imposs---“  Tony stopped himself mid-word, but he realized his mistake too late. It was too late the moment she’d walked into the room. Natasha probably could have seen the lie in his expression, even if he hadn’t said a word.

“ _Impossible_ ,” Natasha finished for him, “because this hasn’t been happening that long, has it? Thank you for helping me narrow it down.”

Tony scowled. “You are too good at this game. All right. Honesty for honesty. I like that game better. I have the high score. This thing - you know, the thing with the sex? – has been going on for a little over three months. Okay, your turn. How long have you known?”

Natasha was one of only two people he’d ever known that hesitated before telling the _truth_. “Two weeks.” She walked over to him. “Tony, this puts me in a very awkward position.”

“Nah, I understand.” He sighed. “I’m not under a spell. I’m not compromised. I haven’t given up any information that can be used to hurt any of us. I’ve been keeping an eye on Loki. You know, honestly, this is a good deal for us? Because I think it’s a good---”

“ _Tony_ ,” Natasha cut him off, voice heavy with sympathy but was underlain with cold, deadly steel, “if I thought you were compromised, I would have made it look like an accident.”

Fear lanced through his chest when she said that, only to settle as a cold sludge in his stomach. “Oh,” he managed, “like the accident that killed my parents. An accident like that?”

Natasha looked genuinely stunned, mouth hanging open in an uncharacteristically fishlike expression. “Tony…“

“I understand. Nothing personal. Just business.”

Natasha looked like she wanted to say something else, but instead she pushed the surprised expression away, turning her back to him slightly. It was oddly vulnerable, and Tony knew not to fall for it. Instead, she faced him again, mouth set in a determined, businesslike line. “What is the Platinum Dawn?”

Tony realized she wasn’t talking about his relationship…thing with Loki anymore, and quickly lapsed into Earth’s Mightiest Hero Mode. “The group Loki and I are investigating. I wanted to learn more before I brought it to SHIELD. They’re some sort of cybernetic doomsday cult. They believe humanity’s future is fusion with machines. Naturally, I am of interest to them. Not that they want to worship me as a god, which would be cool, I’ll admit. No, they just want to cut me up and see what makes me tick, which is decidedly less cool.”

Natasha absorbed the information. “What’s Loki’s stake in this?”

“Platinum Dawn is interested in me; he’s interested in Platinum Dawn. Win, win.” Tony scanned the huge arched doorway to see if he could see Loki in the crowd. “They have access to Chitauri technology. He wants to know where they got it.”

“The boogeyman has boogeymen?”

“Something like that, we don’t talk much.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

Tony froze, because, just like that, he’d given her more information, even without intending to. He swallowed and pushed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “So, where does this leave us? Us, you, me, the Avengers, SHIELD.”

He saw her jaw set and she looked at him. “You’re an asset for SHIELD. So far, nothing you’ve done outweighs that.” She frowned. “Fury won’t necessarily see it that way.”

“All right. Gotcha. So I just need to make sure I have some solid intel to cushion the blow so Fury won’t be so furious. Gotcha. I can do solid intel.”

For the barest second, confusion flashed across her face.

“Oh come on, I’m not naïve.” Tony motioned. “I know you don’t think of me as a friend, and I know that, even if you did, you wouldn’t put the operation in jeopardy because of it. As it is, you think we can get information by keeping him close. You know what? I’m fine with that. He probably knows it. Like I said, win, win. And win. Win-cubed.”

She was quiet for a very long time, and he saw her eyes narrow in a way he didn’t like, wasn’t sure how to explain or define.  “For now, I see no immediate threat.” Her voice was cold. She glanced towards the party, and back to Tony; again, looking like she was buying time for words to come. Instead, she nodded politely and stalked back into the crowd. “Good evening, Mr. Stark.”

Tony wasn’t sure what she meant by that, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He just knew he wanted a drink. Badly.

Loki shimmered into existence beside him, handing him a martini.

Tony took it. “That’s really unnerving, you know. I’m unnerved.”

“You’re also painfully thick,” Loki was watching where Natasha had disappeared into the crowd.

Tony stopped mid-drink. “What?”

“Thick. As in, your skull is thoroughly impenetrable.” Loki paused, and reconsidered. “Figuratively speaking.”

“Um, I’m sorry,” Tony replied unapologetically. “Is this pick on Tony Stark Day? Because if it is, I missed that memo.”

Sneering, Loki lifted his head high. He looked amused. “You don’t know.” Loki leaned in closely, as if he was studying something fascinating on Tony’s face. “How can one be so observant and still be so utterly, cripplingly blind?”

“I’m feeling a little disadvantaged here, not gonna lie.” Tony took another drink. “If you don’t mind, I’m just going to be happy that Natasha knows and we aren’t dead. I’m not dead. I’m happy about that.”

Loki shook his head.

“What?” Tony was starting to get annoyed. “What is so damn funny to you right now?”

“Your comment to her.”

Of course Loki had been eavesdropping. Tony didn’t know whether to be flattered at the safety net or offended. “Which one?”

“Come now,” Loki slithered close to him, “I do not keep counsel with dull, unintelligent people.” It wasn’t said like a threat, just a statement of fact. It could have even been a compliment. “I should just let you figure it out for yourself. The lesson will mean more if I do.”

When Tony didn’t respond, Loki rolled his eyes and spoke in a voice that implied he was giving an insistent but simple dog a treat. “You told her you did not believe that she felt herself your friend.”

“Yes.”

“And what was her reaction when you said that?”

Tony froze, martini almost slipping out of his hands. “Oh.” He glanced at where Natasha had gone. “Oh, _god_ , I am an idiot.”

“No, but you are thick.” Loki held his hands formally behind his back. “I was one hundred feet away and it was obvious to me.”

He’d _hurt her feelings_ when he’d said that. But Natasha would never say that. She’d never tell him. He thought back on the conversation, and felt suddenly, irreparably terrible, because she’d been trying to help and he’d acted so damn defensively that he hadn’t seen it. She could have thrown them to the wolves, but she didn’t. There were a thousand other ways she could have used the knowledge of their relationship other than letting them know that she knew. If she’d wanted to, she could have easily used Tony to get to Loki, and there wouldn’t have been much they could have done to see it coming. Instead, she came to him to talk. Natasha – the spy, the spy that was more spy-y than Fury – had extended a branch of trust to him, and he’d snapped it back in her face like it was part of a zany comedy sketch.

“Ah, it dawns on you.” Loki was circling him, brought a hand to his waist, false pity in every inch of him. “It is fine; you shall have the opportunity to make it up to her.” He sighed, and straightened his coat, obviously bored. “Come now, the benefactor of this event is not associated with our quarry, you’ve embarrassed yourself in front of a teammate, and we were interrupted. I believe it’s time to take our leave.”

“…I have to buy Natasha something nice.” He thought again. “I’ll have to get Pepper to buy Natasha something nice. What does Natasha like? A new gun. I could get her a new gun. A nice one. Ooh, we could bedazzle it!”

Loki scowled. “Move. You’re starting to bother me.”

“Well, at least I know how to apologize to _you_.”


End file.
